There have been many attempts to make hangers that can be inserted into the neck of a garment. Such efforts have been directed toward making folding hangers. A folding hanger is advantageous in that it can be inserted when in a folded position into the neck of a sweater, dress, blouse, or the like, without having to undo any buttons or stretch the neck of the garment, and then the hanger can be unfolded to hang the garment. Folding hangers are described, for example, in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,257 issued Nov. 25, 1997 to Ward; U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,823 issued Jan. 7, 1997 to Lunde; U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,037 issued Mar. 14, 1995 to Ozawa; U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,021 issued Jan. 29, 1991 to Adams et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,757 issued Mar. 15, 1988 to Keller; U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,857 issued Feb. 5, 1980 to Helms, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,610 issued Apr. 9, 1974 to Love; U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,921 issued Mar. 26, 1963 to Sadowsky; U.S. Pat. No. 2,724,533 issued Nov. 22, 1955 to Hansen; U.S. Pat. No. 2,448,523 issued Aug. 31, 1948 to Pandele; U.S. Pat. No. D263,013 issued Feb. 16, 1982 to Angeles; and U.S. Pat. No. D202,484 issued Oct. 5, 1965 to Helms, Jr.
There are drawbacks, however, with the folding hangers described in the above-referenced patents. Many of the folding hangers involve complex designs with numerous interacting parts. The use of many parts makes it difficult to manufacture the hangers in a cost-effective manner considering, particularly, that a hanger is a low-cost item. Additionally, complicated pivoting and latching mechanisms are used in the hangers of the above-cited patents, which increase the likelihood of product failure.
A hanger which is configured to provide a simpler design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,257 to Ward ("Ward"). Ward describes a folding hanger which consists essentially of one integral piece having two movable halves or "wings" that pivot about a connection point and snap together with use of a tongue and groove latching mechanism. The Ward hanger places both a pivot means and a latching mechanism along a vertical surface disposed between the two wings, such that each of the wings has a vertical dimension, providing a relatively bulky hanger. Also, the two wings of the Ward hanger apparently are held in place (when in an unfolded configuration), entirely by the tongue and groove latching mechanism. Thus, if ordinary wear-and-tear were to erode the strength of the latching mechanism, the effectiveness of the hanger would be destroyed.
A new simple design for a foldable hanger is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/228,364, filed Jan. 11, 1999, "Folding Garment Hanger," by Yaffa Licari, an inventor herein, which is incorporated herein by reference. The '364 application shows a hanger consisting essentially of two pieces that snap-fit together. Two members are provided having elongated arm portions and a hook portion, and these members are coupled together with an extension and recess mechanism. A ringed or cupped-piece is disposed on each member; one of these pieces has a pivoting extension and another has a recess for receiving the pivoting extension whereby the two members can pivot about the piece. The hanger of the '364 patent is advantageous in that it is simpler than many of the previous configurations for folding hangers. However, it still uses interacting parts so that the hanger is more costly to make than the traditional, single-component hanger. Also, it cannot be used to hang pants because like many folding hangers, it does not have a base rod.
As may be appreciated, it would be advantageous to have a hanger that is simple in construction, sturdy, easy and inexpensive to make, and configured so that it can be inserted through the neck of a garment. New designs for hangers are desired to provide the consumer with a choice of products. The instant invention provides a "through-the-neck" configuration while avoiding the foldable feature that has generated complication in prior hanger designs. Further advantages may appear more fully upon considering the description given below.